Our minimum wage prevents substantial living.
Our clothing is overpriced.
Our food, or what we can afford to buy, is intoxicated with GMOs* and bug-killer.
Our school system is jacked, and unrealistic.
Our country is ruled by self-absorbed, arrogant Hollywood “stars” who’ll never be anything more than flesh infused with plastic and alcohol, possibly even heroine and nicotine.

And what is even worse is our children look up to these people, who are as real as the silicon under their skin.
We are broken, addicted to crap we need’nt be, and lost in our troubles.

We suck.

We’ve made ourselves become people we don’t want to be.

Do you really want to live your life, living up to only what society tells you you are?

Do you really only want to live your life to the smallest extent possible by never going on a limb, taking a chance?

Experimenting with life?

Learning from your mistakes?

Seriously.
Life is not anti-depressants, losing ourselves in a stranger’s intimate embrace, or even imagining so, nor is it about gaining as many social-media-robotic-humanoid “friends” and “followers” as possible, who may be there just for the pictures and party, nothing more. Nor is it about getting enough money to visit concerts, become well known, and adored by many.

There is more to life than drugs, sex, parties, fame, and fortune.
Tips:

If you are to get high, get high off of life. Breathe in the intoxicating mountain air, and let it absorb you. Get lost, only to find yourself.

If you must have sex… Paint. Read. Write. It’s possibly the sexiest thing you could ever do. And wait for that person you love, for the day the rings are on.**

If you must party, celebrate every day. You woke up. You opened your eyes. You are breathing. That’s a reason to celebrate. Dance. Sing. Invite friends over for one reason: you’re all alive.

If you must be famous, be famous in the eyes of everyone on this planet you come in contact with. Be pleasant to be near; eyes will shift to you. Speak sweetly, but be firm; you’ll never be pushed over. You’ll be powerful, and people will generally see you as likable and attractive.

If you must have fortune, get enough to drive, to keep the roof above your head, and support yourself. Treat yourself as well. You are fortunate to live in America. Work hard, despite the fact that our minimum wage prevents substantial living. Work well. You’ll benefit yourself, and your esteem most.
Put down your phone for one day, and look around you.

Live your life.

And live it well.

Create something you never knew you had the capacity to create. A symphony, a painting, a novel. Anything.

Gather some friends, or one good one, and take a road trip. Travel without a destination. Make life as unpredictable as it can be.

Pray, asking God to use you however He wants. And don’t pray for what you’re not willing to pay for. Meaning it’ll hurt. He will grow you. He will challenge you. And it will hurt.

But it’s the most incredible experience. Once you’ve climbed the mountain, you’ll never believe the view. Looking back, my favorite parts of life were or came out of my hardest, worst times.